Winchelsea School

Winchelsea School is a special school for pupils aged 4 to 19 with moderate to complex learning needs, all of whom have an education, health and care plan. The school operates across seven sites in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and has recently undergone rapid expansion. Inspectors judged attendance and behaviour, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing to be strong, with safeguarding standards met. Achievement, curriculum and teaching, and post-16 provision were judged to be at the expected standard. The school's motto, 'I am, I can, I will', and its highly individualised, therapeutic approach create a strong sense of belonging, with pupils behaving well and attending regularly.

Strengths

• Staff have consistently high expectations and model the behaviour policy clearly, resulting in calm classrooms and positive pupil engagement.
• Attendance is consistently high and persistent absence has decreased markedly over time.
• Early years provision is highly tailored, with rapid and sustained progress from varied starting points.
• Inclusion is at the heart of the school, with bespoke support that helps pupils re-engage after unsuccessful placements elsewhere.
• Leadership and governance are highly effective across all seven sites, with commendable outreach work and strong oversight during rapid expansion.
• The personal development and wellbeing offer is vast, bespoke and highly tailored, with a substantial impact on pupils' outcomes.
• The sixth form has improved rapidly, with better access to college and employment and high levels of student commitment.
• Staff form warm, trusting relationships with pupils and work extremely closely with parents and carers.
• The school's oversight of alternative provision is highly effective, ensuring pupils receive suitable education.

Areas for Improvement

• In a minority of cases, teaching sequences do not demand enough of pupils, so they do not develop knowledge consistently well across the curriculum.
• The post-16 curriculum requires further development to provide a wider breadth of work experience, wider learning and accreditations.
• The governing body needs to ensure it continues to have stringent oversight of all aspects of the school during this time of rapid expansion.

In 2024–25 pupils at Winchelsea School attended 90.4% of sessions (the national figure for special schools was 87.2%). 27.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 35.3%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 3.0% of pupils at Winchelsea School were suspended at least once (nationally 5.1%). One pupil was permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Winchelsea School had 6.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for special schools was 6.6). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.6% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.5%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26 Winchelsea School had 248 pupils, 100.0% of them with an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 99.5%).

It says it provides for: specific learning difficulty; moderate learning difficulty; severe learning difficulty; profound and multiple learning difficulty; social, emotional and mental health; speech, language and communication needs; hearing impairment; vision impairment; multi-sensory impairment; physical disability; autistic spectrum disorder; other difficulty or disability.

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded special school schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Winchelsea School received £28,547 and spent £28,458 for each of its 248 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £986,000 (£3,974 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Poole · Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole local authority: places and applications

What is Winchelsea School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Winchelsea School is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Winchelsea School last inspected by Ofsted?

Winchelsea School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Winchelsea School have?

Winchelsea School has 248 pupils on roll.

What age range does Winchelsea School cover?

Winchelsea School for pupils aged 4 to 19.

Where is Winchelsea School?

Winchelsea School is at Guernsey Road, Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, BH12 4LL.